The US State Department Friday said Washington would hate to see Pakistan-India progress towards normalization of relations jeopardized in the wake of tensions along the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region as it counseled the two South Asian neighbors to resolve their disputes through dialogue.
“We very much value the progress the two countries have made on the economic side, on the visa side, on the trade side. And we ‘ll hate to see that jeopardized because it is in the interest of India and Pakistan and all of us who care about that region,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said. The spokesperson was responding to a question about the US role in addressing the South Asian tensions over cross-LoC exchange of fire.
While tensions surged over killing of soldiers on the two sides, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said he was not ready for business as usual. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar this week proposed foreign ministerial level talks to contain the crisis and get back to peace process.
Nuland, speaking in that background at the daily briefing, welcomed moves to approach the LoC crisis through talks between the two nuclear neighbors.
“We think the best way to work through issues on the Line of Control (in Kashmir) is for India and Pakistan to work through directly. They are in direct talks now and that is something that we welcome,” the spokesperson added.
Questioned about the peaceful resolution to the issue of Dr Tahir ul Qadri –led march on Islamabad, the spokesperson said: “I did not get a political update on Pakistan. I hope what you say is true that we had a good political-based resolution. We have been clear that we want to see these issues settled through dialogue and settled democratically.”
On Thursday’s sentencing of Tahawwur Rana, a Chicago businessman of Pakistani origin, the spokesperson said “this is an example of US justice system working. He was brought to trial and convicted.”
Rana was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday by a Chicago district court for providing material support to overseas terrorism, including Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which is accused of perpetrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks.